(COLUMBUS) - Local criminal justice officials are using statistics to give criminals smarter sentences to cut costs and reduce crime.

Suspects who are arrested for the first time now are more likely than in prior years to get screened for drug and alcohol addiction to catch problems early, said Joseph W. Meek, magistrate in Bartholomew County Superior Court II.

Meek is part of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, which includes county government officials such as Sheriff Mark Gorbett, Prosecutor Bill Nash, Judge Stephen Heimann and psychiatrists.